Police changing habits to save gas

Thursday

Nov 29, 2007 at 1:09 AMNov 29, 2007 at 8:08 AM

By Tyra M. VaughnStaff Writer

For Burgaw police officers, leaving cars running is no longer acceptable.Earlier this month town officials began requiring police to turn off their cars when officers are not in them to cut back on gas expenses. The police department spent about $31,800 for fuel in the past 11 months, more than half of what the town spent on gas during that time.Rising fuel costs have prompted officials in recent weeks to reinstate gas conservation measures that were first put in place last fiscal year for the Pender County town of about 3,900 residents, said Martin Beach, interim town manager for Burgaw.With the average gas price in the region being $3.06 on Wednesday, municipal governments in the tri-county area are scrambling to slash transportation costs and become more efficient.Officials in several towns are coming up with creative ways to conserve fuel, but most are reducing their gas budgets by changing habits at police departments.For example, in addition to restricting the idling engines, town officials are asking officers to park their cars for 15 minutes each hour and work on reports, perform observations from inside their cars or participate in foot patrols, said Wayne Briley, chief of the Burgaw Police Department."It averages out to three hours during a 12-hour shift," Briley said. "An officer may be too busy with calls during the first few hours of his shift to stop, so he'll make up the time later on. The goal is to just shut off the vehicle for that set amount of time."Wilmington and Leland officials also are asking officers to turn off their unoccupied vehicles and perform more foot patrols.Beach said Burgaw budgeted $3 a gallon, or $64,232, for gas for town vehicles in this year's budget, up 50 cents a gallon from last fiscal year.The recent conservation efforts help conserve the budget for the coming months, Beach said."We have some wiggle room because for four months gas prices were under $3," Beach said. "We're taking proactive measures while it's early because we don't want to wait until we're getting close to going over budget and then do something."The town spent about $60,250 on gas from December 2006 through Nov. 28.Town officials are also asking the public works staff to work together and schedule jobs around town during the same time in nearby areas so they can use fewer vehicles.The city of Wilmington, which spent about $1.5 million of its $150 million budget last fiscal year on fuel, has enacted the first phase of its gas conservation plan, said Malissa Talbert, city spokeswoman.In the past, Wilmington used a modified version of the plan, first implemented in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, she said."We've incorporated a lot of these things into our daily practices, but over time we sort of let up on some things," Talbert said. "We originally cut out nonessential travel for employees, but over time we've gotten less strict."The city recently added a Toyota Prius, a hybrid car, to its fleet. City officials have plans to purchase eight additional hybrid cars and sport utility vehicles for city business, Talbert said."These cars are going to be used for travel where you'd get better mileage," she said.The city is also using biodiesel, a blend of corn oil and petroleum, to power diesel vehicles, Talbert said.Kure Beach is now negotiating contracts only with fuel companies that allow them not to pay fuel taxes because of rising gas costs.Municipalities are exempt from paying fuel taxes, but they usually pay for the taxes up front and are reimbursed by the state, said Mac Montgomery, mayor-elect in Kure Beach.Montgomery said the town has been doing this for four months."It was hurting us to pay out that cost up front," he said. "We were waiting to be reimbursed while the bills kept piling up."The town is taking only full garbage trucks to county landfills to be emptied, Montgomery said.In Brunswick County, Leland officials have reduced the amount of time police officers spend driving.The town budgeted about $75,000 for its roughly 30 vehicles, said Bill Farris, town manager. The police department uses the most of the town's vehicles, Farris said.Traffic unit officers are allowed to do only stationary radar speed enforcement, and the chief is also considering carpooling officers to court on court dates."Hopefully these procedures will bring some relief and avoid the necessity for us to implement more severe restrictions such as fuel rationing and recall of the take-home units," Leland Police Chief Osey Sanders wrote in a Nov. 14 memorandum to staff.In Navassa, the town has already suspended its officers' take-home privileges because of gas prices, said Town Administrator Claudia Bray.Some municipalities, such as Topsail Beach, are taking the wait-and-see approach.Topsail Beach Interim Manager Tom Hogg has discussed the rising gas prices with his staff, but he has not found it necessary to crack down on vehicle use yet, he said."We're fortunate that we don't have much territory to cover," he said. "The police cars are the only vehicles that run constantly."Topsail Beach has about 12 vehicles, including police cars.New Hanover County Manager Bruce Shell said he is closely monitoring how much the county is spending on fuel.Shell said the county is paying $2.90 a gallon for gas, so more stringent measures aren't needed now.Officials in Brunswick and Pender counties said they've budgeted enough money to cover the rising fuel costs, so conservation techniques aren't necessary.Brunswick County Manager Marty Lawing said conserving gas would be difficult because so many of the county's services require the use of vehicles."So much of our service delivery depends on people in the field, without having an impact on service delivery it's pretty difficult to conserve on fuel," Lawing said.Tyra M. Vaughn: 343-2070tyra.vaughn@starnewsonline.com